Tag Archives: Bugatti

Wire Wheeled Voiturette – Bugatti Type 37A #37282

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The Bugatti Type 37 was a 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui 4 cylinder vehicle, first seen in 1926, designed to compete in races run to 1.5 litre Voiturette rules.

Bugatti Type 37A, Bugatti Trust, Prescott

Type 37’s shared a common chassis with the 8 cylinder Type 35 race cars, but were not usually fitted with the distinctive alloy wheels of the 8 cylinder model unless they were supercharged.

Bugatti Type 37A, Bugatti Trust, Prescott

The Voiturette motor could be ordered either normally aspirated which produced around 60hp or with a supercharger which increased the output to 80 or 90 hp depending on how long one needed the motor to last. The 67 supercharged cars, like #37282 seen here at the Bugatti Trust, are known as Type 37As.

Bugatti Type 37A, Bugatti Trust, Prescott

The 290 Type 37s built between 1926 and 1930 cost less than half of the amount of the Type 35, the car seen here was originally supplied to Munich Bugatti dealer Omnia Kraftfahrzeug Handels GmbH for 48,938 French Francs.

Bugatti Type 37A, Bugatti Trust, Prescott

I believe this car may have been raced in the Eifelrennen at the Nurburgring by Richard Fuchs in 1937 a race from which he retired.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wire Wheeled Voiturette” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now.

Uhlik ‘Praha’ Roadster – Bugatti Type 54 #BC-70

It is said that the first two Bugatti Type 54s were put together in just 13 days, using Type 45 chassis frames and Type 50 motors, prior to the 1931 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

The Type 50 straight 8 motor has a capacity of 4.972 litre / 303 cui and is fitted with twin carburetors and a supercharger to produce around 300hp.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

Archille Varzi drove chassis #54201 to a third place finish in that event and it was later sold to Czech Republic Prince Jiri Lobcowicz.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

The Prince was killed racing #54201 at Avus Germany in 1932 and the remains of #54201 were acquired by his friend and fellow competitor Zdenek Pohl.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

Zdenek had Prague coach builder O Uhlik fit the Roadster ‘Praha’ body seen here, to the repaired chassis #54201.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

In the 1970’s the ‘Praha’ body was removed from #54201 in favour of a body better suited to competition on the track.

Bugatti Type 54, Quail Councours d'Elegance, Geoffrey Horton.

Skip Berg a California car dealer later still found the Uhlik ‘Praha’ roadster body, and had it fitted to a chassis built up by Uwe Hucke given the chassis number BC-70 by the Bugatti Owners Club.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for kindly sharing today’s photographs taken at last years Quail Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Uhlik ‘Praha’ Roadster” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

3 litre / 183 cui U16 – Bugatti Type 45 R #47153

When visiting the museum at the Bugatti Trust a couple of years ago I was most impressed by a cutaway aero engine Ettore Bugatti designed in 1916 that featured two pairs of four cylinder motors joined to two longitudinal crankshafts that were themselves geared to a single central propeller shaft to make a U16 motor.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In 1929 when looking to replace his successful Type 35’s Ettore revisited the idea of building U16 motors by connecting parallel pairs of his existing single overhead cam 8 cylinder motors to a single prop shaft.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In all he built 5 U16’s with motor sizes of 3.8 litres / 231 cui and and 3 litres / 183 cui. The larger motor was intended for the Type 45 of which one #47156 was fitted with the only 3.8 litre motor #1.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

This car appears to have been made obsolete before it ever driven in anger by the late adoption of a fuel consumption formula which was unfavourable to the the large displacement motor.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The single T45 that was completed was used in hllclimbs and speed events and now sits in the Schlumpf collection along side a 3 litre U16 T47 chassis #47156 fitted with motor #3, the 3 litre U16 motor #2 is also believed to be with the Schlumpf collection now also known as the Cité de l’Automobile.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The two remaining 3 litre 183 cui U16 motors #4 and #5 have both been reported in a Dutch court case to have been fitted to Replica / Recreation chassis and I believe the car seen here is 45R #47153.

Bugatti T 45, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Dutch court hearing in 2011 records that #47153, has also been incorrectly identified as #47157 by some sources on the web and that “”Overall this car is in all respects a wonderfully faithful reproduction of the one and only factory-built Bugatti Type 45 (…)”, albeit with a smaller engine capacity than the original.

Thanks for joining me on this “3 litre / 183 cui U16” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be revisiting Sherborne Castle. Don’t forget to come back now !

Definitely Not A Lambretta – Bugatti Type 51R #BC 132

The first of of an eventual forty Bugatti Type 51’s appeared in 1931 with a twin cam straight eight replacing the single cam straight eight of it’s Type 35 predecessor. Externally the two types are almost identical with the newer model being equipped with a larger radiator, single piece alloy wheels, and as a consequence of the twin cam head, a lower pop off valve blow whole for the supercharger in the bonnet / hood.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

There were three European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and Bugatti won the second and third. Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi sharing the win in a T51 on the 12 km track at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France and William Grover-Williams & Caberto Conelli the win at Spa, these races were over distance of around 800 miles taking a minimum of ten hours to complete, unlike the modern maximum 2 hour Grand Prix requiring only one driver.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

The following season Bugatti were outclassed by ALFA Romeo in the three European Championship races which were run over ‘just’ five hours, but their cars still won twelve of the thirty less well supported non championship races.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

For 1933 the European Championship was suspended, eventually for two years, but there were five Grandes Épreuves run over distances of 200 miles, Monaco, to just over 400 miles or Spain, requiring just the one driver. Archilli Varzi won the opening race at Monaco aboard a T51 with the remainder going to Maserati and Alfa Romeo equally.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

According to a Bugatti Owners site, today’s T51 recreation was assembled from many original parts and a “Hoskins” frame by Christopher F. Warman in Wales with help from Tim and Ivan Dutton in the late 1980’s. The car was registered for road use by 2006 when it competed at a variety of events, but in 2007 the registration number was transferred to a Lambretta Motor Scooter which according to the DVLA website is not currently on the road.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

More recently the car was said to have been offered for sale at around £500,000 and it is seen driven in these photographs, taken at last years VSCC Prescott meeting, by Derek Howard – Orchard, who has been the owner since at least 2010.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s Not A Lambretta” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some European cars that took the start of the Classic Run in Chipping Sodbury. Don’t forget to come back now !

23/07/14 Thanks to Tim Murray for clarifying that the Type 51 ran twin cam motors and the minimum times for the European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and 1932.

Continental Thirties Foursome – San Marino Motor Classic

Today’s “Continental Thirties Foursome” features a brace of Bugatti’s a Lago and a Peugeot, seen at last months San Marino Motor Classic, representing a high water mark of style and elegance from the European continental coach building industry between 1935 and 1937.

Bugatti Type 57 SC Electron Torpedo Competition, San Marino Motor Classic

The original Bugatti Type 57 Electron Torpedo Competition #57222 was shown alongside the original and similarly Electron bodied Bugatti Type 57 Aerolithe coupé at the Paris Salon 1935. Unlike the coupé the original Electron Torpedo body was never seen in public again.

Bugatti Type 57T Aravis, San Marino Motor Classic

The chassis for today’s featured car was built in 1934 with a ‘Galbiar’ 4 door saloon / sedan body, but in 1937 it was sent back to Bugatti for repairs which included upgrading the hydraulic brakes, engine mounts, differential and fitting a completely new exquisite Aravis 2 seat drop top body by Belgian Paul Nee who was allegedly chosen by Jean Bugatti as a personal favour to none other than the King of Belgium.

Lago T150 C SS, San Marino Motor Classic

Perhaps the apogee of the tear drop form were the three 1937 Lago 150C SS models with coachwork by Figoni & Falaschi whose ‘Goutte d’Eau’ bodies featured not only faired in rear wheels, but faired in front’s as well, which one might expect to interfere with the steering. The first owner of what I believe is chassis #90107 was the Princess Stella de Khapurthala who allegedly had the colour of the paintwork changed many times to match her numerous outfits.

Peugeot Darl'mat, San Marino Motor Classic

Finally, for today at least, above is a 1937 Peugeot 302DS Darl’Mat Cabriolet, Emile Darl’mat was a Parisian Peugeot dealer with his own coachworks whose cars included several Peugeot based Le Mans racers.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton and Paul McNabb once again for sharing their photographs from the San Marino Motor Classic.

Thanks for joining me on this “Continental Thirties Foursome” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be paying a visit to Castle Combe. Don’t forget to come back now !

High Front Wheel Vents – Bugatti Type 57G #57335

Two years after disassociating himself from remarks made in the the French Press in which Ettore Bugatti is alleged to have described the dominant Bentleys of the day as the “fastest lorries in the world” Bugatti made his first official attempt at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1931.

The three supercharged 5 litre / 302 cui straight eight powered Type 50S models however proved unreliable and up until 1936 when today’s featured Type 57G was built the marques best result on the worlds fastest roundabout was a sixth place recorded by the privateers Jean Sébilleau and Georges Delaroche aboard there 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui Type 40 in 1932.

Bugatti Type 57G, The Quail

For 1936 Bugatti are believed to have taken four low slung Type 57S chassis fitted with Type 59 (Grand Prix car) wheels and brakes, unsupercharged 3.3 litre 24 valve straight eight motors and built aerodynamic bodies for them that did away with the prevalent cycle wings / fenders giving the whole body a unitary look more familiar to a Land Speed Record vehicle.

During testing at Montlhéry in prior to Le Mans the prototype car is believed to have been damaged. The Le Mans 24 Hours was cancelled because of a General Strike in 1936.

Bugatti Type 57G, The Quail

In preparation for their delayed attempt at the Le Mans 24 hours the three remaining cars were all entered into the GP de l’A.C.F run at Circuit Routier de Linas-Montlhéry and then again the Marne Grand Prix run at Reims in June and July 1936.

The owner of today’s featured car neurosurgeon Fred Simeone believes his chassis #57335 won both of them, with Jean-Pierre Wimille and Raymond Sommer sharing the honours driving the #84 at Montlhéry and Jean-Pierre driving the #12 solo at Reims.

Bugatti Type 57G, The Quail

This proved a powerful portent of things to come, over the winter of 1936 and 1937 chassis #57355 in particular appear to have gone on a diet.

Only two Type 57Gs were entered into the 24 Hours of Le Mans both entered by Roger Labric a driver and journalist, the #1 for Roger and Pierre Veyron while the lighter #2 chassis #57355 was driven by Jean Pierre and Robert Benoist.

Bugatti Type 57G, The Quail

The #1 entry retired just after half distance while Jean Pierre and Robert went on to win by 7 laps from the 2nd place Delhaye driven by Joseph Paul and Marcel Mongin to score the first of Bugatti’s two overall Le Mans victories.

#57355 is easily distinguished from it’s siblings by the high front wheel vents, unique to the #84, which can easily be seen in this linked black white photo of the three undamaged cars taken at Montlhéry in 1936 and confirms that #57355 won each of the three races into which it was entered.

Today #57355 is the only 57G survivor, though there is at least one copy that was finished earlier this year that appeared at Goodwood. #57355 is normally to be found at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, Pa. but is seen in these photographs by Geoffrey Horton at The Quail last year.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs. I’d also like to thank The Nostalgia Forum contributors Roger Clark for debunking the “Fastest Lorry Myth” and MT Anorak for his insights into the story of the Bugatti Type 57G cars.

Thanks for joining me on this “High Front Wheel Vent” edition of “Gettin’ A Li’l Psycho On Tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Pourtout For All – Bugatti Type 44 #44769

Bugatti chassis #44769 was completed in October 1928 and sent from Molsheim to Parisian Carrosserie Pourtout to have it’s body tailor made.

Bugatti Type 44, The Quail Auction, Geoffrey Horton

The finished 80hp 8 cylinder single cam, 3 valve per cylinder, 3 litre car was then sent to Parisian Bugatti agent Stand-Auto in December 1928 with a 44,450 French Franc price tag for its first owner.

Bugatti Type 44, The Quail Auction, Geoffrey Horton

#44769 remained in Europe where it’s owners included the renowned Marque expert “Monsieur Bugatti” aka Jean De Dobbeleer of Belgium until 1960 when it was sent to Reno Nevada for the owner who put into last years Quail Auction.

Bugatti Type 44, The Quail Auction, Geoffrey Horton

Starting in 1961 #44769 was dismantled and underwent a five decade preservation that included rebuilding the motor, wiring loom, chassis frame, body and interior which was completed in 2007.

Last year the 75 mph car, built as a contemporary rival to the 3 litre Bentley, sold at The Quail Auction for US$ 363,000 / £215,648 including premium.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing his photographs of today’s featured Bugatti Type 44.

Thanks for joining me on this “Pourtout For All” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a stickered BMW. Don’t for get to come back now !